US20140118772A1 - Image forming apparatus and controlling method thereof - Google Patents
Image forming apparatus and controlling method thereof Download PDFInfo
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- US20140118772A1 US20140118772A1 US13/906,544 US201313906544A US2014118772A1 US 20140118772 A1 US20140118772 A1 US 20140118772A1 US 201313906544 A US201313906544 A US 201313906544A US 2014118772 A1 US2014118772 A1 US 2014118772A1
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- Prior art keywords
- job
- server
- output quota
- line output
- image forming
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
- H04N1/00838—Preventing unauthorised reproduction
- H04N1/00856—Preventive measures
- H04N1/00877—Recording information, e.g. details of the job
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F15/00—Digital computers in general; Data processing equipment in general
- G06F15/16—Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
- G03G15/00—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern
- G03G15/55—Self-diagnostics; Malfunction or lifetime display
- G03G15/553—Monitoring or warning means for exhaustion or lifetime end of consumables, e.g. indication of insufficient copy sheet quantity for a job
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
- G06F21/60—Protecting data
- G06F21/606—Protecting data by securing the transmission between two devices or processes
- G06F21/608—Secure printing
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
- G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
- G06F3/1202—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to achieve a particular effect
- G06F3/1203—Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management
- G06F3/1204—Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
- G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
- G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
- G06F3/1237—Print job management
- G06F3/1239—Restricting the usage of resources, e.g. usage or user levels, credit limit, consumables, special fonts
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
- G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
- G06F3/1278—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to adopt a particular infrastructure
- G06F3/1285—Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server
Definitions
- the present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus and a controlling method thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus capable of controlling an image forming job using off-line output quota information when a job command is input in an offline state where connection to a server is cut off, and a controlling method thereof.
- An image forming apparatus refers to an apparatus which prints print data generated by a terminal apparatus such as a computer on a recording paper
- examples of an image forming apparatus include copy machine, printer, fax machine, and a Multi-Function Peripheral (MFP) which performs the above functions in a single device.
- MFP Multi-Function Peripheral
- An image forming apparatus may be connected to a server which manages output quota in order to limit output quota for each user.
- a server which manages output quota in order to limit output quota for each user.
- Such a system is referred to as a Managed Printing Service of Solution (MPS) system which manages a printer of a network, an image forming apparatus like an MFP, and operation logs therein (for example, printing, copying, faxing, scanning, and so on) and processes business logic such as the amount of usage of each individual and group, charging thereof, and so on by using a quota management function.
- MPS Managed Printing Service of Solution
- a present general inventive concept provides an image forming apparatus capable of controlling an image forming job using off-line output quota information when a job command is input in an offline state where connection to a server is cut off, and a controlling method thereof.
- Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept provide an image forming apparatus that includes a communication interface unit which is connected to a server where on-line output quota information set for each user is stored, a storage unit which stores off-line output quota information received from the server, a controller which, when a job command is input in an on-line state where communication with the server is available, determines whether to perform a job based on on-line output quota information stored in the server, and when the job command is input in an off-line state where communication with the server is cut off, determines whether to perform a job based on the off-line output quota information stored in the storage unit, and an image forming unit which, when job performance is determined by the controller, performs an image forming job corresponding to the job command.
- the on-line output quota information and the off-line output quota information may include information regarding an amount of usage, and an available amount of usage.
- the controller when communication with the sever becomes available again after an image forming job is performed based on the off-line output quota information in the off-line state where communication with the server is cut off, may update output quota in the server in accordance with the performed image forming job and initialize the off-line output quota information.
- the off-line output quota information may be categorized according to type of job command.
- the controller when an available amount of usage is not enough for a type of an input job command, may determine whether to perform a job by replacing the available amount with that of another type of job command included in the off-line output quota information.
- the controller may update the on-line output quota information in the storage unit and the server whenever a predetermined amount of an image forming job is performed.
- Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept also provide method of controlling an image forming apparatus that includes connecting to a server where on-line output quota information set for each user is stored, storing off-line output quota information received from the server, when a job command is input in an on-line state where communication with the server is available, determining whether to perform a job based on on-line output quota information stored in the server, and when the job command is input in an off-line state where communication with the server is cut off, determining whether to perform a job based on the off-line output quota information stored in the storage unit, and when job performance is determined by the controller, performing an image forming job corresponding to the job command.
- the on-line output quota information and the off-line output quota information may include information regarding an amount of usage, and an available amount of usage.
- the method may further include, when communication with the sever becomes available again after an image forming job is performed based on the off-line output quota information in off-line state where communication with the server is cut off, updating output quota in the server in accordance with the performed image forming job and initializing the off-line output quota information.
- the off-line output quota information may be categorized according to type of job command.
- the determining may include, when an available amount of usage is not enough for a type of an input job command, determining whether to perform a job by replacing the available amount with that of another type of job command included in the off-line output quota information.
- the method may further include updating the on-line output quota information in the storage unit and the server whenever a predetermined amount of an image forming job is performed.
- Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept also provide a storage unit which stores off-line output quota information received from an external server; a controller to determine whether to perform a job such that when a job command is input in an on-line state where a communication with the server is available, determines whether to perform the job based on on-line output quota information stored in the server, and when the job command is input in an off-line state where communication with the server is not available, determines whether to perform the job based on the off-line output quota information stored in the storage unit; and an image forming unit to perform an image forming job corresponding to the job command when the controller determines that the job is to be perform.
- the controller updates output quota in the server in accordance with the performed image forming job and initializes the off-line output quota information when the communication with the server becomes available again after not being available.
- the off-line output quota information is categorized according to a type of job command.
- the controller determines whether to perform a job by replacing an available amount of usage with that of another type of job command included in the off-line output quota information when the available amount of usage is not enough for a type of an input job command.
- Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept also provide a non-transitory computer readable recording medium containing code to perform a method of controlling an image forming apparatus, the method comprising: connecting to a server where on-line output quota information set for each user is stored; storing off-line output quota information received from the server; when a job command is input in the on-line state where communication with the server is available, determining whether to perform a job based on on-line output quota information stored in the server, and when the job command is input in an off-line state where communication with the server is cut off, determining whether to perform a job based on the off-line output quota information stored in the storage unit; and performing an image forming job corresponding to the job command when the determination is made to perform the job.
- the on-line output quota information and the off-line output quota information includes information regarding an allowed amount of usage, an amount of usage, and an available amount of usage.
- the method further comprises: when communication with the sever becomes available again after an image forming job is performed based on the off-line output quota information in off-line state, updating output quota in the server in accordance with the performed image forming job and initializing the off-line output quota information.
- the determining comprises, when an available amount of usage is not enough for a type of an input job command, determining whether to perform a job by replacing the available amount with that of another type of job command included in the off-line output quota information.
- FIG. 1 is an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment
- FIG. 2 is a view provided to explain functions of a server and an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment
- FIG. 3 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling a server according to an exemplary embodiment
- FIG. 4 is a view provided to explain on-line output quota information inquiry for each user according to an exemplary embodiment
- FIG. 5 is a view provided to explain information inquiry of an image forming apparatus registered in a server according to an exemplary embodiment
- FIG. 6 is a view provided to explain off-line output quota information setting according to an exemplary embodiment
- FIG. 7 is a view provided to explain an operation of allocating off-line output quota information to each image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment
- FIG. 8 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.
- FIG. 9 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.
- FIG. 1 is an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.
- an image forming apparatus 100 comprises a communication interface unit 110 , a storage unit 120 , a controller 130 , an image forming unit 140 , and a user interface unit 150 .
- the communication interface unit 110 is connected to a server 10 where information regarding on-line output quota set for each user is stored. In addition, the communication interface unit 110 may receive a user job command and print data from a print controlling apparatus 20 .
- the output quota information refers to information to limit output of the image forming apparatus 100 , and includes information regarding an allowed amount of output for each user or group, amount of usage, and available amount of usage.
- the output quota information may be used to determine whether it is possible to perform a job requested from a user.
- the output quota information includes on-line output quota information which is used in on-line state where communication with the server 10 is available, and off-line output quota information which is used in an off-line state where communication with the server 10 is cut off.
- the on-line output quota information is output quota which is set for each user and group, and may be provided from the server 10 in the on-line state and may be updated and transmitted back to the server 10 according to the job performance result.
- Business logic such as charging of each user and group, may be processed based on the on-line output quota information.
- the off-line output quota information is also referred to as an off-line quota policy, and may be provided from the server 10 when connection is initiated for the first time and may be stored in the storage unit 120 .
- the on-line output quota information cannot be received. In this case, image forming job performance of the image forming apparatus 100 may be limited using the off-line output quota information.
- the communication interface unit 10 may be connected not only through the Local Area Network (LAN) and the Internet network, but also through a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port.
- LAN Local Area Network
- USB Universal Serial Bus
- the storage unit 120 stores off-line output quota information received from the server 10 and on-line output quota information set for each user.
- the storage unit 120 may store a job command and print data received from the print controlling apparatus 20 .
- the storage unit 120 may be realized as a storage medium of the image forming apparatus 100 and/or an external storage medium, for example, a removable disk including a USB memory and a web server via the network.
- a removable disk including a USB memory and a web server via the network.
- only one storage unit 120 is illustrated and described, but the storage unit 120 may be divided into a memory to store data and a memory to process commands.
- the controller 130 determines whether to perform a job based on the on-line output quota information stored in the server 10 , and if a job command is input in the off-line state where the communication with the server 10 is cut off, the controller 130 determines whether to perform a job based on the off-line output quota information stored in the storage unit 120 .
- the controller 130 may confirm the communication connection state with the server 10 .
- a user's job command is input in the on-line state, a user authentication procedure of the server 10 is performed, and on-line output quota information of the corresponding user stored in the server 10 is received.
- the controller 130 compares the available amount of usage which is calculated by subtracting the amount of usage from the allowed amount of usage allocated for each user in the on-line quota information with the requested amount of usage of the job command, and if the requested amount is less than the available amount of usage, the controller 130 may allow performance of the corresponding job. On the other hand, if the requested amount exceeds the available amount of usage, the controller 130 may determine that the corresponding job cannot be performed, and does not allow the performance of the job.
- the controller 130 determines whether to perform a job using the off-line output quota information stored in the storage unit 120 . As described above, the controller 130 compares the available amount of usage which is calculated by subtracting the amount of usage from the allowed amount of usage allocated for each user in the on-line quota information with the requested amount of usage of the job command, and if the requested amount is less than the available amount of usage, the controller 130 may allow performance of the corresponding job. On the other hand, if the requested amount exceeds the available amount of usage, the controller 130 may determine that the corresponding job cannot be performed, and does not allow the performance of the job.
- the off-line output quota information may be categorized according to the type of job command.
- the type of job command may include print color, print mono, copy color, copy mono, scan, fax, and so on.
- the controller 130 may determine whether to perform a job by replacing the available amount with that of another type of job command.
- the print color job may be covered by the off-line output quota, but 30 pages of the print mono job cannot be covered.
- the print mono job can be performed by subtracting 30 pages from the quota of the fax job of which quota remains still high, thus permitting the execution of the user' job command.
- the criterion on the order of quota to be subtracted may be transmitted from the server 10 .
- the quota may be subtracted in a descending order of available amount of usage of each job command type in the image forming apparatus 100 .
- the order of quota of each job command type to be subtracted may be determined by a manager of the server.
- the controller 130 may perform an image forming job based on off-line output quota information in the off-line state where communication with the server 10 is cut off, and then, if communication with the server 10 is resumed, may update the output quota in the server 10 according to the performed image forming job and initialize (reset) the off-line output quota information. Specifically, if an image forming job is performed using the off-line output quota information, the server 10 may be updated based on the performance result. Accordingly, the server 10 may update output quota information for each user based on the amount of usage for a job performed in the off-line state, and thus may avoid an erroneous omission of charging a user for a job performed in the offline state.
- the controller 130 may obtain user information without user authentication of the server 10 in the off-line state, based on on-line output quota information for each user which is stored in the on-line state.
- the controller 130 may update on-line output quota information in the storage unit 120 and the server 10 whenever performing a predetermined amount of image forming jobs. For example, the controller 130 may update on-line output quota information every time 10 pages are output and may provide the updated on-line output quota information to the storage unit 120 and to the server 10 .
- the controller 130 controls each component of the image forming apparatus 100 .
- the image forming unit 140 performs an image forming job corresponding to a job command.
- the user interface unit 150 may include a plurality of function keys through which a user may set or select various functions supported by the image forming apparatus 100 , and may display various information provided by the image forming apparatus 100 .
- the user interface unit 150 may be realized by combining a monitor and a mouse, or may be realized as an apparatus such as a touch pad which can perform input and output simultaneously.
- the image forming apparatus 100 may control an image forming job efficiently using off-line output quota information.
- FIG. 2 is a view provided to explain functions of the server 10 and the image forming apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment.
- the server 10 may provide functions such as user information Data Base (DB) Linkage 11 , user authentication 12 , image forming apparatus management 13 , and quota setting and management 14 .
- DB user information Data Base
- the function of user information DB linkage 11 refers to the function of storing personal information regarding a user and a group using an MPS system and on-line output quota information.
- the server 10 may be interlocked with a user information system of a client (for example, LDAP and so on) to synchronize the user information with the user information DB in real-time or periodically.
- a user information system of a client for example, LDAP and so on
- the function of user authentication 12 refers to the function of authenticating a user who requests the image forming apparatus 100 to perform a job based on the information of the user information DB.
- the function of image forming apparatus management 13 refers to the function of managing the setting and state of at least one image forming apparatus 100 which is connected to the server 10 .
- the function of quota setting and management 14 refers to the function of transmitting and setting of off-line output quota information, and transmitting, setting and updating on-line output quota information for each user of at least one image forming apparatus 100 which is connected to the server 10 .
- a quota management agent 160 refers to an application installed in the image forming apparatus 100 and may manage output quota.
- the quota management agent 160 may perform a user authentication at the User Authentication portion 161 , limit output at the Output Limit portion 162 , inquire about quota at the Quota Inquiry portion 163 , and store quota at the Quota Storage 164 .
- the function of user authentication 161 refers to the function of requesting the server 10 to perform authentication of a user who requests job performance. If the user is not authenticated, the user may be limited with respect to using the corresponding image forming apparatus 100 .
- the function of limiting output refers to the function of suspending, canceling or resuming job performance requested by a user arbitrarily.
- the function of inquiring quota 163 refers to the function of inquiring off-line output quota information transmitted from the server 10 and on-line output quota information allocated for each user.
- the function of storing quota 164 refers to the function of storing off-line output quota information transmitted from the server 10 and on-line output quota information allocated for each user.
- quota management agent 160 is stored in the storage unit 120 of the image forming apparatus 100 and may be operated by the controller 130 .
- FIG. 3 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling the server 10 according to an exemplary embodiment.
- the server 10 may be connected to a user information system of a client to interlock user information DB with user information (operation S 310 ).
- the server 10 may search an image forming apparatus 100 which is connected to the server 10 and register the connected image forming apparatus (operation S 320 ).
- the server 10 selects the image forming apparatus 100 to which off-line output quota information is allocated (operation S 330 ).
- the server 10 may generate off-line output quota information (operation S 360 ) and register the generated information (operation S 370 ).
- the server 10 may allocate off-line output quota information to the selected image forming apparatus 100 (operation S 380 ).
- the server 10 may allocate off-line output quota information to the image forming apparatus 100 .
- FIG. 4 is a view provided to explain on-line output quota information inquiry for each user according to an exemplary embodiment.
- the server 10 may be connected to a user information system of a client to interlock user information DB with user information.
- FIG. 4 illustrates a user information inquiry screen of the server 10 after the interlocking operation.
- the user information may include personal (User) information 401 such as a user account, a user name, a group name, an e-mail, etc. and on-line output quota information 402 of the corresponding user.
- personal (User) information 401 such as a user account, a user name, a group name, an e-mail, etc.
- on-line output quota information 402 of the corresponding user.
- FIG. 5 is a view provided to explain information inquiry of the image forming apparatus 100 registered in a server according to an exemplary embodiment.
- a server manager may search the image forming apparatus 100 to be used by users and register the image forming apparatus 100 in a server.
- FIG. 5 represents a screen in which the image forming apparatus 100 registered in the server 10 is searched.
- the information 501 of the image forming apparatus 100 may include basic status, toner status and paper status.
- FIG. 6 is a view provided to explain off-line output quota information setting according to an exemplary embodiment.
- FIG. 6 illustrates a screen 601 to set off-line output quota information.
- the off-line output quota information may be set for each type of print job (copy color, copy mono, print color, print mono, fax and scan), and may be set unlimitedly.
- quota may be set regardless of a type of print job (all function).
- FIG. 7 is a view provided to explain an operation of allocating off-line output quota information to each image forming apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment.
- FIG. 8 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling the image forming apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment.
- the image forming apparatus 100 may store off-line output quota information (operation S 820 ).
- an image forming job may be performed by applying the stored off-line output quota information. Subsequently, once the job is completed (operation S 860 :Y), it is determined whether it is possible to communicate with the server again. If it is determined that communication with the server 10 is once again possible (operation S 840 :Y), the job performance result may be transmitted to the server 10 (operation S 870 ) to update output quota information for each user.
- the method of controlling an image forming apparatus in FIG. 8 may be performed in the image forming apparatus 100 having the configuration of FIG. 1 and also in image forming apparatuses having other configurations.
- FIG. 9 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.
- off-line output quota information is received from the server 10 (operation S 910 ), and the received off-line output quota information is stored (operation S 920 ).
- the image forming apparatus 100 may perform a job (operation S 950 :Y), the image forming apparatus 100 may perform an image forming job corresponding to the job command (operation S 980 ).
- the image forming apparatus 100 may display that an image forming job cannot be performed due to output quota limit (operation S 970 ).
- the on-line output quota information may be updated in a storage unit and the server 10 whenever a predetermined amount of an image forming job is performed.
- operation S 930 if a job command is input (operation S 930 ) and communication with the server is not available (operation S 940 :N), whether to perform a job may be determined using the stored off-line output quota information (operation S 960 ). Since the operation of determining whether to perform a job has been explained above with reference to FIG. 1 , further description of this operation will not be provided.
- the image forming apparatus 100 may perform an image forming job corresponding to the job command (operation S 980 ).
- the image forming apparatus 100 may display that an image forming job cannot be performed due to output quota limit (operation S 970 ).
- the output quota may be updated in the server in accordance with the performed image forming job, and the off-line output quota information may be initialized.
- the off-line output quota information may be categorized according to the type of job command. If the available amount of usage is not enough for the type of an input job command, whether to perform a job may be determined by replacing the available amount with that of another type of job command included in the off-line output quota information.
- the method of controlling an image forming apparatus in FIG. 9 may be performed in the image forming apparatus 100 having the configuration of FIG. 1 , and also in image forming apparatuses having other configurations.
- the image forming apparatus may efficiently control an image forming job using off-line output quota information.
- the methods according to various exemplary embodiments may be stored in various storage media. Accordingly, the methods according to the various exemplary embodiments may be realized in various types of electronic apparatuses executing the storing media.
- the above-described image forming method may be realized as a program including an algorithm executable in a computer, and the program may be stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium and provided therein.
- the non-transitory recordable medium refers to a medium which may store data semi-permanently rather than storing data for a short time such as a register, a cache, and a memory and may be readable by an apparatus.
- a non-temporal recordable medium such as CD, DVD, hard disk, Blu-ray disk, USB, memory card, and ROM and provided therein.
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Abstract
Description
- This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2012-0120719, filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Oct. 29, 2012, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
- 1. Field of the Invention
- The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus and a controlling method thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus capable of controlling an image forming job using off-line output quota information when a job command is input in an offline state where connection to a server is cut off, and a controlling method thereof.
- 2. Description of the Related Art
- An image forming apparatus refers to an apparatus which prints print data generated by a terminal apparatus such as a computer on a recording paper, and examples of an image forming apparatus include copy machine, printer, fax machine, and a Multi-Function Peripheral (MFP) which performs the above functions in a single device.
- An image forming apparatus may be connected to a server which manages output quota in order to limit output quota for each user. Such a system is referred to as a Managed Printing Service of Solution (MPS) system which manages a printer of a network, an image forming apparatus like an MFP, and operation logs therein (for example, printing, copying, faxing, scanning, and so on) and processes business logic such as the amount of usage of each individual and group, charging thereof, and so on by using a quota management function.
- In the conventional MPS system environment, if the connection between the server which manages output quota and the image forming apparatus is cut off, a user may be allowed to perform an output operation without limit, regardless of output quota allocated to each user, or an output operation is prohibited, causing inconvenience to the corresponding user.
- A present general inventive concept provides an image forming apparatus capable of controlling an image forming job using off-line output quota information when a job command is input in an offline state where connection to a server is cut off, and a controlling method thereof.
- Additional features and utilities of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.
- Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept provide an image forming apparatus that includes a communication interface unit which is connected to a server where on-line output quota information set for each user is stored, a storage unit which stores off-line output quota information received from the server, a controller which, when a job command is input in an on-line state where communication with the server is available, determines whether to perform a job based on on-line output quota information stored in the server, and when the job command is input in an off-line state where communication with the server is cut off, determines whether to perform a job based on the off-line output quota information stored in the storage unit, and an image forming unit which, when job performance is determined by the controller, performs an image forming job corresponding to the job command.
- The on-line output quota information and the off-line output quota information may include information regarding an amount of usage, and an available amount of usage.
- The controller, when communication with the sever becomes available again after an image forming job is performed based on the off-line output quota information in the off-line state where communication with the server is cut off, may update output quota in the server in accordance with the performed image forming job and initialize the off-line output quota information.
- The off-line output quota information may be categorized according to type of job command.
- The controller, when an available amount of usage is not enough for a type of an input job command, may determine whether to perform a job by replacing the available amount with that of another type of job command included in the off-line output quota information.
- The controller may update the on-line output quota information in the storage unit and the server whenever a predetermined amount of an image forming job is performed.
- Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept also provide method of controlling an image forming apparatus that includes connecting to a server where on-line output quota information set for each user is stored, storing off-line output quota information received from the server, when a job command is input in an on-line state where communication with the server is available, determining whether to perform a job based on on-line output quota information stored in the server, and when the job command is input in an off-line state where communication with the server is cut off, determining whether to perform a job based on the off-line output quota information stored in the storage unit, and when job performance is determined by the controller, performing an image forming job corresponding to the job command.
- The on-line output quota information and the off-line output quota information may include information regarding an amount of usage, and an available amount of usage.
- The method may further include, when communication with the sever becomes available again after an image forming job is performed based on the off-line output quota information in off-line state where communication with the server is cut off, updating output quota in the server in accordance with the performed image forming job and initializing the off-line output quota information.
- The off-line output quota information may be categorized according to type of job command.
- The determining may include, when an available amount of usage is not enough for a type of an input job command, determining whether to perform a job by replacing the available amount with that of another type of job command included in the off-line output quota information.
- The method may further include updating the on-line output quota information in the storage unit and the server whenever a predetermined amount of an image forming job is performed.
- Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept also provide a storage unit which stores off-line output quota information received from an external server; a controller to determine whether to perform a job such that when a job command is input in an on-line state where a communication with the server is available, determines whether to perform the job based on on-line output quota information stored in the server, and when the job command is input in an off-line state where communication with the server is not available, determines whether to perform the job based on the off-line output quota information stored in the storage unit; and an image forming unit to perform an image forming job corresponding to the job command when the controller determines that the job is to be perform.
- In an exemplary embodiment, the controller updates output quota in the server in accordance with the performed image forming job and initializes the off-line output quota information when the communication with the server becomes available again after not being available.
- In an exemplary embodiment the off-line output quota information is categorized according to a type of job command.
- In an exemplary embodiment the controller determines whether to perform a job by replacing an available amount of usage with that of another type of job command included in the off-line output quota information when the available amount of usage is not enough for a type of an input job command.
- Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept also provide a non-transitory computer readable recording medium containing code to perform a method of controlling an image forming apparatus, the method comprising: connecting to a server where on-line output quota information set for each user is stored; storing off-line output quota information received from the server; when a job command is input in the on-line state where communication with the server is available, determining whether to perform a job based on on-line output quota information stored in the server, and when the job command is input in an off-line state where communication with the server is cut off, determining whether to perform a job based on the off-line output quota information stored in the storage unit; and performing an image forming job corresponding to the job command when the determination is made to perform the job.
- In an exemplary embodiment the on-line output quota information and the off-line output quota information includes information regarding an allowed amount of usage, an amount of usage, and an available amount of usage.
- In an exemplary embodiment the method further comprises: when communication with the sever becomes available again after an image forming job is performed based on the off-line output quota information in off-line state, updating output quota in the server in accordance with the performed image forming job and initializing the off-line output quota information.
- In an exemplary embodiment the determining comprises, when an available amount of usage is not enough for a type of an input job command, determining whether to perform a job by replacing the available amount with that of another type of job command included in the off-line output quota information.
- These and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
-
FIG. 1 is an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; -
FIG. 2 is a view provided to explain functions of a server and an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; -
FIG. 3 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling a server according to an exemplary embodiment; -
FIG. 4 is a view provided to explain on-line output quota information inquiry for each user according to an exemplary embodiment; -
FIG. 5 is a view provided to explain information inquiry of an image forming apparatus registered in a server according to an exemplary embodiment; -
FIG. 6 is a view provided to explain off-line output quota information setting according to an exemplary embodiment; -
FIG. 7 is a view provided to explain an operation of allocating off-line output quota information to each image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; -
FIG. 8 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; and -
FIG. 9 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. - Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept by referring to the figures.
-
FIG. 1 is an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. - Referring to
FIG. 1 , animage forming apparatus 100 comprises acommunication interface unit 110, astorage unit 120, acontroller 130, animage forming unit 140, and auser interface unit 150. - The
communication interface unit 110 is connected to aserver 10 where information regarding on-line output quota set for each user is stored. In addition, thecommunication interface unit 110 may receive a user job command and print data from aprint controlling apparatus 20. - Herein, the output quota information refers to information to limit output of the
image forming apparatus 100, and includes information regarding an allowed amount of output for each user or group, amount of usage, and available amount of usage. The output quota information may be used to determine whether it is possible to perform a job requested from a user. - The output quota information includes on-line output quota information which is used in on-line state where communication with the
server 10 is available, and off-line output quota information which is used in an off-line state where communication with theserver 10 is cut off. - The on-line output quota information is output quota which is set for each user and group, and may be provided from the
server 10 in the on-line state and may be updated and transmitted back to theserver 10 according to the job performance result. Business logic, such as charging of each user and group, may be processed based on the on-line output quota information. - On the other hand, the off-line output quota information is also referred to as an off-line quota policy, and may be provided from the
server 10 when connection is initiated for the first time and may be stored in thestorage unit 120. When communication with the server is cut off, the on-line output quota information cannot be received. In this case, image forming job performance of theimage forming apparatus 100 may be limited using the off-line output quota information. - Meanwhile, the
communication interface unit 10 may be connected not only through the Local Area Network (LAN) and the Internet network, but also through a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. - The
storage unit 120 stores off-line output quota information received from theserver 10 and on-line output quota information set for each user. In addition, thestorage unit 120 may store a job command and print data received from theprint controlling apparatus 20. - Meanwhile the
storage unit 120 may be realized as a storage medium of theimage forming apparatus 100 and/or an external storage medium, for example, a removable disk including a USB memory and a web server via the network. In the exemplary embodiment, only onestorage unit 120 is illustrated and described, but thestorage unit 120 may be divided into a memory to store data and a memory to process commands. - If a job command is input in an on-line state where communication with the
server 10 is available, thecontroller 130 determines whether to perform a job based on the on-line output quota information stored in theserver 10, and if a job command is input in the off-line state where the communication with theserver 10 is cut off, thecontroller 130 determines whether to perform a job based on the off-line output quota information stored in thestorage unit 120. - Specifically, the
controller 130 may confirm the communication connection state with theserver 10. - If a user's job command is input in the on-line state, a user authentication procedure of the
server 10 is performed, and on-line output quota information of the corresponding user stored in theserver 10 is received. Thecontroller 130 compares the available amount of usage which is calculated by subtracting the amount of usage from the allowed amount of usage allocated for each user in the on-line quota information with the requested amount of usage of the job command, and if the requested amount is less than the available amount of usage, thecontroller 130 may allow performance of the corresponding job. On the other hand, if the requested amount exceeds the available amount of usage, thecontroller 130 may determine that the corresponding job cannot be performed, and does not allow the performance of the job. - However, in the off-line state, the
controller 130 determines whether to perform a job using the off-line output quota information stored in thestorage unit 120. As described above, thecontroller 130 compares the available amount of usage which is calculated by subtracting the amount of usage from the allowed amount of usage allocated for each user in the on-line quota information with the requested amount of usage of the job command, and if the requested amount is less than the available amount of usage, thecontroller 130 may allow performance of the corresponding job. On the other hand, if the requested amount exceeds the available amount of usage, thecontroller 130 may determine that the corresponding job cannot be performed, and does not allow the performance of the job. - Meanwhile, the off-line output quota information may be categorized according to the type of job command. Herein, the type of job command may include print color, print mono, copy color, copy mono, scan, fax, and so on.
- If the available amount of usage is not enough for the type of an input job command, the
controller 130 may determine whether to perform a job by replacing the available amount with that of another type of job command. - For example, suppose that the off-line quota information and the requested amount by a user are as follows, in Table 1 below:
-
TABLE 1 print print copy copy color mono color mono scan fax Quota (allowed 200 120 100 100 100 200 amount of usage) Usage (amount of 100 100 0 0 0 0 usage) Available (available 100 20 100 100 100 100 amount of usage) Request (requested 30 50 0 0 0 0 amount of usage) - The print color job may be covered by the off-line output quota, but 30 pages of the print mono job cannot be covered. In this case, the print mono job can be performed by subtracting 30 pages from the quota of the fax job of which quota remains still high, thus permitting the execution of the user' job command. Herein, the criterion on the order of quota to be subtracted may be transmitted from the
server 10. - The quota may be subtracted in a descending order of available amount of usage of each job command type in the
image forming apparatus 100. The order of quota of each job command type to be subtracted may be determined by a manager of the server. - Meanwhile, the
controller 130 may perform an image forming job based on off-line output quota information in the off-line state where communication with theserver 10 is cut off, and then, if communication with theserver 10 is resumed, may update the output quota in theserver 10 according to the performed image forming job and initialize (reset) the off-line output quota information. Specifically, if an image forming job is performed using the off-line output quota information, theserver 10 may be updated based on the performance result. Accordingly, theserver 10 may update output quota information for each user based on the amount of usage for a job performed in the off-line state, and thus may avoid an erroneous omission of charging a user for a job performed in the offline state. Herein, thecontroller 130 may obtain user information without user authentication of theserver 10 in the off-line state, based on on-line output quota information for each user which is stored in the on-line state. - Meanwhile, the
controller 130 may update on-line output quota information in thestorage unit 120 and theserver 10 whenever performing a predetermined amount of image forming jobs. For example, thecontroller 130 may update on-line output quota information everytime 10 pages are output and may provide the updated on-line output quota information to thestorage unit 120 and to theserver 10. - The
controller 130 controls each component of theimage forming apparatus 100. - If job performance is determined by the
controller 130, theimage forming unit 140 performs an image forming job corresponding to a job command. - The
user interface unit 150 may include a plurality of function keys through which a user may set or select various functions supported by theimage forming apparatus 100, and may display various information provided by theimage forming apparatus 100. Theuser interface unit 150 may be realized by combining a monitor and a mouse, or may be realized as an apparatus such as a touch pad which can perform input and output simultaneously. - If a job command is input in the off-line state where communication with the
server 10 is cut off, theimage forming apparatus 100 may control an image forming job efficiently using off-line output quota information. -
FIG. 2 is a view provided to explain functions of theserver 10 and theimage forming apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment. - The
server 10 may provide functions such as user information Data Base (DB)Linkage 11,user authentication 12, image formingapparatus management 13, and quota setting andmanagement 14. - The function of user
information DB linkage 11 refers to the function of storing personal information regarding a user and a group using an MPS system and on-line output quota information. In addition, theserver 10 may be interlocked with a user information system of a client (for example, LDAP and so on) to synchronize the user information with the user information DB in real-time or periodically. - The function of
user authentication 12 refers to the function of authenticating a user who requests theimage forming apparatus 100 to perform a job based on the information of the user information DB. - The function of image forming
apparatus management 13 refers to the function of managing the setting and state of at least oneimage forming apparatus 100 which is connected to theserver 10. - The function of quota setting and
management 14 refers to the function of transmitting and setting of off-line output quota information, and transmitting, setting and updating on-line output quota information for each user of at least oneimage forming apparatus 100 which is connected to theserver 10. - The function of quota setting and
management 14 of the server will be explained in greater detail with reference toFIG. 3 . - A
quota management agent 160 refers to an application installed in theimage forming apparatus 100 and may manage output quota. - Specifically, the
quota management agent 160 may perform a user authentication at theUser Authentication portion 161, limit output at theOutput Limit portion 162, inquire about quota at theQuota Inquiry portion 163, and store quota at theQuota Storage 164. - The function of
user authentication 161 refers to the function of requesting theserver 10 to perform authentication of a user who requests job performance. If the user is not authenticated, the user may be limited with respect to using the correspondingimage forming apparatus 100. - The function of limiting output refers to the function of suspending, canceling or resuming job performance requested by a user arbitrarily.
- The function of inquiring
quota 163 refers to the function of inquiring off-line output quota information transmitted from theserver 10 and on-line output quota information allocated for each user. - The function of storing
quota 164 refers to the function of storing off-line output quota information transmitted from theserver 10 and on-line output quota information allocated for each user. - The above-mentioned application of
quota management agent 160 is stored in thestorage unit 120 of theimage forming apparatus 100 and may be operated by thecontroller 130. -
FIG. 3 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling theserver 10 according to an exemplary embodiment. - The
server 10 may be connected to a user information system of a client to interlock user information DB with user information (operation S310). In addition, theserver 10 may search animage forming apparatus 100 which is connected to theserver 10 and register the connected image forming apparatus (operation S320). - Subsequently, the
server 10 selects theimage forming apparatus 100 to which off-line output quota information is allocated (operation S330). Herein, if the selectedimage forming apparatus 100 supports a quota management agent of the selected image forming apparatus (operation 5340:Y) and off-line output quota information does not exist in the selected image forming apparatus 100 (operation 5350:N), theserver 10 may generate off-line output quota information (operation S360) and register the generated information (operation S370). - In addition, the
server 10 may allocate off-line output quota information to the selected image forming apparatus 100 (operation S380). - Through the above method, the
server 10 may allocate off-line output quota information to theimage forming apparatus 100. -
FIG. 4 is a view provided to explain on-line output quota information inquiry for each user according to an exemplary embodiment. - The
server 10 may be connected to a user information system of a client to interlock user information DB with user information.FIG. 4 illustrates a user information inquiry screen of theserver 10 after the interlocking operation. The user information may include personal (User)information 401 such as a user account, a user name, a group name, an e-mail, etc. and on-lineoutput quota information 402 of the corresponding user. -
FIG. 5 is a view provided to explain information inquiry of theimage forming apparatus 100 registered in a server according to an exemplary embodiment. - A server manager may search the
image forming apparatus 100 to be used by users and register theimage forming apparatus 100 in a server.FIG. 5 represents a screen in which theimage forming apparatus 100 registered in theserver 10 is searched. Theinformation 501 of theimage forming apparatus 100 may include basic status, toner status and paper status. -
FIG. 6 is a view provided to explain off-line output quota information setting according to an exemplary embodiment. -
FIG. 6 illustrates ascreen 601 to set off-line output quota information. The off-line output quota information may be set for each type of print job (copy color, copy mono, print color, print mono, fax and scan), and may be set unlimitedly. - In addition, quota may be set regardless of a type of print job (all function).
-
FIG. 7 is a view provided to explain an operation of allocating off-line output quota information to eachimage forming apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment. - Referring to
FIG. 7 , if off-line output quota information is allocated, ‘True’ is displayed as an allocation state value (operation S701). -
FIG. 8 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling theimage forming apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment. - If an allocation request is received from the server 10 (operation S810:Y), the
image forming apparatus 100 may store off-line output quota information (operation S820). - Subsequently, if a user's job command is input (operation S830) and communication with the
server 10 is possible (operation 5840:Y), the job may be performed using on-line output quota information and the performance result may be transmitted to the server 10 (operation S870). - On the other hand, if a user's job command is input (operation S830) and communication with the
server 10 is not possible (operation S840:N), an image forming job may be performed by applying the stored off-line output quota information. Subsequently, once the job is completed (operation S860:Y), it is determined whether it is possible to communicate with the server again. If it is determined that communication with theserver 10 is once again possible (operation S840:Y), the job performance result may be transmitted to the server 10 (operation S870) to update output quota information for each user. - Meanwhile, the method of controlling an image forming apparatus in
FIG. 8 may be performed in theimage forming apparatus 100 having the configuration ofFIG. 1 and also in image forming apparatuses having other configurations. -
FIG. 9 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. - According to the method of
FIG. 9 , off-line output quota information is received from the server 10 (operation S910), and the received off-line output quota information is stored (operation S920). - Subsequently, if a job command is input (operation S930) and communication with the server is available (S940:Y), whether to perform a job may be determined by receiving on-line output quota information of the server 10 (operation S950). Since the operation of determining whether to perform a job has been explained above with reference to
FIG. 1 , further description of this operation will not be provided. - If it is possible to perform a job (operation 5950:Y), the
image forming apparatus 100 may perform a job (operation S950:Y), theimage forming apparatus 100 may perform an image forming job corresponding to the job command (operation S980). - On the other hand, if it is not possible to perform a job (operation S950:N), the
image forming apparatus 100 may display that an image forming job cannot be performed due to output quota limit (operation S970). - Herein, the on-line output quota information may be updated in a storage unit and the
server 10 whenever a predetermined amount of an image forming job is performed. - Meanwhile, if a job command is input (operation S930) and communication with the server is not available (operation S940:N), whether to perform a job may be determined using the stored off-line output quota information (operation S960). Since the operation of determining whether to perform a job has been explained above with reference to
FIG. 1 , further description of this operation will not be provided. - If it is possible to perform a job (operation S960:Y), the
image forming apparatus 100 may perform an image forming job corresponding to the job command (operation S980). - On the other hand, if it is not possible to perform a job (operation 5960:Y), the
image forming apparatus 100 may display that an image forming job cannot be performed due to output quota limit (operation S970). - Herein, if the off-line state is changed to the on-line state, the output quota may be updated in the server in accordance with the performed image forming job, and the off-line output quota information may be initialized.
- Meanwhile, the off-line output quota information may be categorized according to the type of job command. If the available amount of usage is not enough for the type of an input job command, whether to perform a job may be determined by replacing the available amount with that of another type of job command included in the off-line output quota information.
- Meanwhile, the method of controlling an image forming apparatus in
FIG. 9 may be performed in theimage forming apparatus 100 having the configuration ofFIG. 1 , and also in image forming apparatuses having other configurations. - As such, according to various exemplary embodiments, if a job command is input in off-line state where communication with the
server 10 is cut off, the image forming apparatus may efficiently control an image forming job using off-line output quota information. - Meanwhile, the methods according to various exemplary embodiments may be stored in various storage media. Accordingly, the methods according to the various exemplary embodiments may be realized in various types of electronic apparatuses executing the storing media.
- In addition, the above-described image forming method may be realized as a program including an algorithm executable in a computer, and the program may be stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium and provided therein.
- Herein, the non-transitory recordable medium refers to a medium which may store data semi-permanently rather than storing data for a short time such as a register, a cache, and a memory and may be readable by an apparatus. Specifically, the above-mentioned various applications or programs may be stored in a non-temporal recordable medium such as CD, DVD, hard disk, Blu-ray disk, USB, memory card, and ROM and provided therein.
- Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims (13)
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KR1020120120719A KR20140054791A (en) | 2012-10-29 | 2012-10-29 | Image forming apparatus and control method thereof |
KR10-2012-0120719 | 2012-10-29 |
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EP (1) | EP2725480B1 (en) |
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WO2022163001A1 (en) * | 2021-01-28 | 2022-08-04 | ブラザー工業株式会社 | Recording device, recording system, and control method |
US11528272B2 (en) * | 2019-07-30 | 2022-12-13 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Information processing system, information processing device, and information processing method |
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JP2016177551A (en) * | 2015-03-20 | 2016-10-06 | 株式会社リコー | Output device, program, output system, and output method |
JP6784128B2 (en) * | 2016-10-07 | 2020-11-11 | 船井電機株式会社 | Printer |
CN112003753B (en) * | 2020-08-25 | 2022-02-22 | 四川长虹电器股份有限公司 | Expected value judgment, acquisition, transmission and monitoring system and method based on configurable gateway |
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US6999190B2 (en) * | 2000-04-14 | 2006-02-14 | Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. | Printing cost charging system |
US7190484B2 (en) * | 2000-02-29 | 2007-03-13 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Cash operated image forming apparatus and its control method |
US20120191601A1 (en) * | 2011-01-21 | 2012-07-26 | Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc. | Image processing system, image processing device, billing processing method and computer readable recording medium |
US8400661B2 (en) * | 2010-08-06 | 2013-03-19 | Xerox Corporation | Virtual printing currency for promoting environmental behavior of device users |
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2012
- 2012-10-29 KR KR1020120120719A patent/KR20140054791A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
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2013
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US7190484B2 (en) * | 2000-02-29 | 2007-03-13 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Cash operated image forming apparatus and its control method |
US6999190B2 (en) * | 2000-04-14 | 2006-02-14 | Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. | Printing cost charging system |
US8400661B2 (en) * | 2010-08-06 | 2013-03-19 | Xerox Corporation | Virtual printing currency for promoting environmental behavior of device users |
US20120191601A1 (en) * | 2011-01-21 | 2012-07-26 | Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc. | Image processing system, image processing device, billing processing method and computer readable recording medium |
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US11528272B2 (en) * | 2019-07-30 | 2022-12-13 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Information processing system, information processing device, and information processing method |
WO2022163001A1 (en) * | 2021-01-28 | 2022-08-04 | ブラザー工業株式会社 | Recording device, recording system, and control method |
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EP2725480B1 (en) | 2019-02-20 |
EP2725480A3 (en) | 2014-05-21 |
KR20140054791A (en) | 2014-05-09 |
US9167116B2 (en) | 2015-10-20 |
EP2725480A2 (en) | 2014-04-30 |
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